The vinyl PVC tubing we use:

The non-antimicrobial formulation made from non-toxic ingredients conforming to FDA standards:

Samar’s versatile Clear Vinyl Tubing can be used for beverage dispensing, potable water, laboratory tubing, and numerous low pressure applications.
It is light weight, yet tough and abrasion resistant.
The CVT’s PVC compound is in compliance with FDA CFR TITLE 21 requirements, and meets USDA, 3A, and NSF51 criteria.

Samar Company is a manufacturer of hose, plastic tubing, rubber sheets, tubing displays, washing machine hose assemblies, and
industrial products. Our home office, from its inception in 1974, is located in Stoughton, Massachusetts, where we produce millions of
feet of hose in a wide variety of sizes and products in our factory.
We have multiple patents and trademarks that have increased our sales and versatility. The core principle of our
business will never change, that you, our customer, will always be the most important factor.

The antimicrobial formulation:

CLEARFLO® Ag-47 Antimicrobial PVC Tubing

Clear Antimicrobial Non-Phthalate PVC Tubing

Made from non-toxic ingredients conforming to FDA standards

No phthalates, latex or animal-derived ingredients

Listed by the National Sanitation Foundation (NSF-51)
for food equipment materials

Antimicrobial ingredient is throughout the tubing, not only on
the interior as with other products

CLEARFLO Ag-47 is suitable for a wide variety of food contact
applications and designed to protect your food or beverage product from
harmful bacteria. It's manufactured from a clear flexible Shore A74
non-phthalate PVC compound with the addition of antimicrobial
protection. The antimicrobial technology is especially effective where
there is infrequent use of fluids in warm or humid conditions and the
tubing has no opportunity to dry thoroughly between uses.

The antimicrobial properties protect the tubing against organisms
that can cause growth-based discoloration and odors. Testing has proven
that the active ingredients neutralize bacteria rapidly, and because the
ingredients do not dissipate with use, they can be expected to offer
protection for an extended time under normal conditions. CLEARFLO Ag-47
offers antibacterial performance to ISO 22196:2011.

Unlike some products CLEARFLO Ag-47 is 100% protected with the
effective additive, which is present throughout the tube and not only on
the interior, offering you protection on all surfaces. This is
especially important in applications where the tubing is dipped into a
fluid.

The active
ingredients in CLEARFLO Ag-47 will have no detrimental effect on yeasts
used for brewing and will have no negative impact on the taste or flavor
of products passed through it.

Experiments:

1. What is the best way to reduce slime buildup in your fountain

Steve B from Novato, CA, one of our customers, experienced slime build up in his fountain and asked what to do:

Are there any safe additives that you would recommend, to reduce or eliminate clear slime?I clean the fountain thoroughly every 7 days. (Complete, inside tubing, motor etc) Every few cleanings, I will pre-rinse in vinegar or a mild Clorox/water solution. I’ve even tried hydrogen peroxide. None help, I still get a slime build-up.
I also use Brita filtered water. I’m about 95% sure it’s the water, not the cat causing this. I can leave a bowl of water not accessible to the cat and it will start to slime in 7 days or so.
Any suggestions appreciated.

We'd sent him our antimicrobial tubing and made some sugestions. So he started a test series running over a couple of weeks.

My first test, starting today, will be a thorough cleaning, a new water source and a new piece of standard 3/8 tubing.
The water is Arrowhead distilled, the tubing will be food grade I purchased from Amazon.
Your standard tubing seems to change from clear to frosted/opaque after a single (Weekly use) It will become more frosted with time. During my weekly cleanings, I always use a gun cleaning ram rod and a patch on the i/s tubing. I have noticed nothing unusual on the patch. I will dissect the piece in use now to see if I can detect anything.

--------------

Update on first test concluded today.
A phenomenal reduction in slime. I could have increased my time between cleaning 50-100%.
I dissected your standard tubing and could detect nothing internal. The part that baffles me is after the tubing was exposed to air, the “frosted” effect disappeared in a few hours. (No it wasn’t condensation). My Amazon tubing was even more frosted today. Not a clue.
This week’s test will be using the remainder of my distilled water, same tubing. My cleaning this week includes a final long soak pre rinse using GSE as outlined on their site, rather than vinegar/water.

--------------

Another successful cleaning! I’m am 90% confident that it is the store purchased human grade distilled water that is the key to my positive results. This week I have done my normal, thorough cleaning but NO pre rinse in GSE or vinegar. I am again using distilled water. I’m also putting out a control dish of my normal Brita filtered tap water. I’ll update you in 7-9 days.

--------------

Great test results again. No slime in the fountain with normal thorough cleaning and distilled water.
The “control” dish of Brita filtered tap water was another story. At 4 days, depending on the lighting, I could detect a cloudiness in the water. My cleaning today showed slime forming.
My next test is a control dish of tap water only.
I did my normal thorough fountain cleaning today, filled with distilled water. Next week if I don’t find slime on the fountain, I will change the water but NOT clean the fountain. Pending those results, I’ll make minor tweaks to the process.

--------------

Just to let you know, I’ve had excellent results (So far) with standard food grade tubing and distilled water. The silver tubing adds the “peace of mind” factor but can’t quantify how many extra days between sliming yet.

--------------

All I’m doing this cycle is change water (Distilled). No apparent slime so I did NOT give the fountain a cleaning.
Now for the confusing info. I have been placing a control dish, out of the cats reach, of Brita filtered tap water. It always shows slime and some color changes at 7-8 days. Last go around I used tap water only as a control. I “assumed” it would be worse that the Brita filtered. No slime at all this time?? My Brita filter is changed on a regular basis, I always give the pitcher a good cleaning when I replace the filter.
Could the Brita be harboring slime inducing microbes? Could it be removing something from the water that prevents slime? A mystery to me.
I’ll update you in 7-9 days.

--------------

Last response for now. I’m where I need to be.
I didn’t have any noticeable slime this week. Very pleased since I didn’t clean the fountain last week, only changed the water. I could have gone another week but cleaned instead. Once again, the control dish of tap water only, didn’t have slime either but may have been starting to get cloudy. (Stretching the imagination)
Final conclusions:
Brita filter water is absolutely worthless for my fountain.
Distilled, human grade is the answer to 99%+ of my slime issue. I use Arrowhead.
Good quality food grade tubing is adequate for my fountain and normal cleaning routine.
The silver infused gives me a little added piece of mind and might allow me to extend cleaning even further during unusual conditions. (Hospitalization, vacation etc.)
I wish to thank you for the tubing and the motivation to do these tests. If you have any new ideas or products, please let me know.